With the Bucs on bye this week, it was nice to relax and casually watch other games. I’m looking forward to Wednesday when the team returns to practice and injury reports become public. Hopefully, we won’t be facing the M.A.S.H. unit we had right after the game against the Saints. Fingers crossed we’ll see a few players back on the field!
While watching this past weekend's matchups, I was surprised to see the Panthers lingering just 1.5 games behind the Bucs for the NFC South lead. Their upset victory over the Packers solidified their standing, while the Falcons seem to be losing grip on any hope for the division or even a Wild Card spot.
Despite some embarrassing losses this season—including a 26-10 defeat to the Jaguars, a 42-13 loss to the Patriots, and a 40-9 blowout by the Bills—the Panthers currently hold a 5-4 record. They have a good chance to catch up, especially with two games still to play against the Bucs—one in Charlotte and one in Tampa.
How the Bucs perform over the next three weeks could set us up for a strong end to the season. If we can secure two wins in those games, we should maintain a division lead with six winnable games ahead. On the flip side, the Panthers would love to be within one game of us heading into the final three games of the season, two of which will be against the Bucs, giving them a chance to control their own destiny.
One challenge for the Panthers is their remaining schedule, which includes tough matchups against the 49ers, Rams, and Seahawks, in addition to the two games against us. The Bucs, meanwhile, face the Patriots, Bills, Rams, and an unpredictable Cardinals team. Looking closely at the schedule, it’s clear that this weekend’s game against the Patriots is crucial. They’re a solid 7-2, but it’s a game we should win at home. If we don’t, things could get dicey, and we might find ourselves relying on those two games against the Panthers at the end of the season.
I’m not entirely looking past the Falcons, but if they don’t pull off a significant upset against the Colts this week, they’ll be sitting at 3-6. With games against the Seahawks and Rams still on their schedule, plus matchups against the Bucs and Panthers, their chances of turning things around are dwindling.
Ultimately, all of this is moot if the Bucs can take care of business and win the games they should. They’ve positioned themselves well by winning 6 of their first 8 games, but early season success doesn’t guarantee playoff success. The teams that win it all are the ones peaking at the end of the season. So where does that leave us?
With all our injuries, will we have enough to keep improving? Even though we beat the Seahawks five weeks ago, are we as good as they are today? And while we lost to the Eagles in September, with their locker room challenges and our favorable matchups, could we actually be better than them now? Regardless, there are still many games left to play. Mid-season leaders often falter—just look at the Colts yesterday. I hope we haven’t seen the best of the Bucs just yet!
Thank you to the Bucs for the picture!